Warfare in News
Posted on Tuesday 23rd October
The oldest surviving pilot who flew in the Battle of Britain, William Walker, has died, age 99.
Flight Lieutenant William Walker was born in Hampstead, London, and joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in September 1938 at Kidlington, Oxford, and flew his first solo flight there. He was called up for full-time service on 1 September 1939 and later commissioned and posted directly to 616 Squadron.
During a Luftwaffe raid in August 1940, Mr Walker's Spitfire was hit and damaged and he was forced to bale out into the Channel with a bullet in his ankle and rescued by a fishing boat.
Mr Walker suffered a stroke last Thursday and died in hospital on Sunday, 21 October.
Flight Lieutenant William Walker was born in Hampstead, London, and joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve in September 1938 at Kidlington, Oxford, and flew his first solo flight there. He was called up for full-time service on 1 September 1939 and later commissioned and posted directly to 616 Squadron.
During a Luftwaffe raid in August 1940, Mr Walker's Spitfire was hit and damaged and he was forced to bale out into the Channel with a bullet in his ankle and rescued by a fishing boat.
Mr Walker suffered a stroke last Thursday and died in hospital on Sunday, 21 October.
Further Reading
Only £6.99
Battle of Britain
(Commemorative magazine)by Roni Wilkinson
The Battle of Britain took place between August and September 1940.
The Germans needed to control the English Channel to launch their invasion of Britain. To control the Channel the Germans needed control of the air. This meant that they had to take on Fighter Command, led by Sir Hugh Dowding, of the Royal Air Force.
At the start of the war, Germany had 4,000 aircraft compared to… Read more...
Of further interest...
The Battle of Britain - Britain's Defences, 1940
Mon 9th JulyAn article on British Defences during the Battle of Britain. Extracted from The Narrow Margin by Derek Wood and Derek Dempster and reproduced by permission of Pen and Sword Books Ltd. Read article...
Spitfire and the Battle of Britain
Thu 19th AprilSpitfire and the Battle of Britain article extracted from Battle Stations by Taylor Downing and Andrew Johnston, reproduced by permission of Pen & Sword Books Ltd. Read article...
